Quiz 9Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 11-12 with this 10 minute quiz.

Test 3Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 9-12 and Phrasebook Topics 9-10.

Грамматика Russian
Verb: Past Tense

1.

What is a Verb

A verb is a part of speech that expresses an action that can be physical (он читает
- he is reading) or mental (он верит - he believes); state
or condition (он стоит - he is staying, он был дома - he was
at home).

Russian verbs contain information about:

tense, that is, the time (past, present or future);

gender / number (in the past tense);

person and number (in the present / future tense);

aspect, that is, an attitude towards time.

2.

Infinitive forms

In dictionaries verbs are listed in the infinitive form. In a sentence
the infinitive is used in specific contexts, for example:

1. Я хочу спать.

1. I want to sleep.

2. Я люблю читать.

2. I like to read.

Notes

Most Russian infinitives end in -ть: читать - to read,верить
- to believe ,быть - to be.

A few verbs have the infinitive ending -ти or -чь. Examples: идти
- to go, мочь - to be able.

The past, present and future tenses are formed from the infinitive.

3.

The Past Tense

Verbs in the past tense are used for actions that took place before now.

The past tense indicates the gender of the subject in the
singular. In the plural the gender is not indicated.

The past tense of verbs is formed from the Infinitive. Study the formation
of the past tense:

Infinitive -> Past Tense

Translation

Masculine

читать->
он читал

he was reading

Feminine

читать-> она читала

she was reading

Plural

читать-> они читали

they were reading

Past Tense endings:-л, -ла,-ли

Notes

To form the past tense of most Russian verbs remove the ending -ть
from infinitive and add-л (for masculine), -ла (for
feminine), -ло (for neuter) and -ли (for all plural).

Neuter subjects are not as common as masculine, feminine or plural ones. Here
are some examples: Письмо было в сумке - The letter was in the bag;
Платье лежало на столе - The dress was lying on the table.

When the pronoun я is the subject, the verb agrees with the gender of
the person, so a boy/man will say: я читал; a girl/woman will say: я
читала.

When the pronoun ты is the subject, the verb agrees with the gender of
the person addressed as ты.

When the pronoun мы or вы is the subject, the verb must be plural,
even if вы is used to address a single person on polite terms.

Study the following examples. Click each dialogue to listen, then read it
aloud. Pay particular attention to the usage of past tense verbs and personal
pronouns.

1. - Игорь, что ты делал вчера вечером?

- Я читал.

1. - Igor, what were you doing last night?

- I was reading.

2. - Таня, что ты делала вчера вечером?

- Я читала.

2. - Tanya, what were you doing last night?

- I was reading.

3. - Ребята, вы были в России?

- Да, мы были в Москве.

3. - Guys, have you been to Russia?

- Yes, we've been to Moscow.

4. - Анна Петровна, Вы были во Франции?

- Да, я была в Париже.

4. - Anna Petrovna, have you been to France?

- Yes, I've been to Paris.

One Russian past tense corresponds to several English past tenses. Compare: